The recession that struck Greece hard caused a surge in unemployment, especially for the youth under the age of 25. As a result, many have turned their sights overseas to earn a decent living, and for some, they shifted from regular employment to freelancing.

One of the many talented individuals affected was Ioannis Tsakiris, a 27-year-old civil engineer with a Master of Science degree in Antiseismic Design. “I am currently unemployed,” he said, “but freelancing has offered me a means to earn an income.”

Searching for the right online freelancing platform was easy for him. Following his friend’s recommendation and after reading positive reviews, he chose Freelancer.com, the world’s largest outsourcing and crowdsourcing marketplace. “The recommendation and reviews were very convincing and the use of Paypal was also a major factor for me in trusting the site more.”

But unlike other freelancers who choose to take gigs in line with their academic degree, Ioannis favored doing Greek to English translations compared to engineering-related projects. “I started translating a long time ago,” he explains. “I have proficiency in English from the University of Michigan. It is very common for youth my age in Greece to acquire this certification in their teens.”

His first translation project involved 15 pages of a financial website, each with 400 words. The client was very pleased that Ioannis was able to complete the job in two days as promised. Translations, Ioannis said, offer a greater amount of money for the number of hours worked and require very limited editing and changes.

To illustrate his point, he cited that the legal basic monthly salary in his country is 380€ for more than eight hours of work. “Even if my project was US$250 (or 180€), less than the basic salary, you have to take into account that I don’t have to pay for transportation; I am my own boss; I work whenever I want under my own rules (even in my pajamas); and to be honest, I work five hours a day max.”

Despite the prevailing unemployment conditions in Greece, Ioannis found the opportunity to navigate through the harsh economy by making use of his other skill through Freelancer.com. “Freelancer is the best choice to earn money, stay in your home country, and face work with a different perspective. It gives you real jobs where you have to compete with others, be confident about your skills, and be able to effectively deal with problems through communication.”